What is the Definition of Blues Music?
The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American community in the United States. It is characterized by a feeling of sadness or melancholy, and its lyrics often deal with themes of hardship or personal struggle. The blues has influenced a wide range of other musical styles, including rock and roll, jazz, and country music.
The Origins of the Blues
The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from the folk music of the African-American people that was influenced by the music of the European settlers. The term “blues” was first used in the late 1800s to describe the music of African-American musicians.
The African American experience
The blues is a style of music that originated in the African American communities of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style is characterized by a foundation in rhythm and blues mixed with elements of jazz, soul, and gospel music. It typically features electric guitars, harmonicas, and pianos.
The blues has had a major influence on many other genres of music, including rock and roll, jazz, country music, and pop music. The blues is also considered to be an important part of the American experience. Many historians believe that the blues helped to shape the identity of America as a nation.
The origins of the blues are often traced back to the work songs and spirituals of African American slaves. These songs were often used to communicate messages or to relieve boredom during long periods of work. Over time, these songs began to evolve into something more musical and expressive.
During the early 20th century, the blues became popularized by African American musicians who performed in bars and clubs in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, and Memphis. These musicians often incorporated elements of jazz and other styles into their music. This new style of music soon gained popularity with white audiences as well.
Today, the blues is enjoyed by people all over the world. It has been adapted andinterpreted by musicians from many different cultures. The blues continues to evolve as new generations of musicians find new ways to express themselves through this unique form of music.
The influence of work songs and spirituals
The lyrics of early blues songs were often based on the themes of work and love. The music was usually played on simple, homemade instruments such as the guitar, harmonica, and violin.
The blues sound was also influenced by the work songs and spirituals of African Americans. These songs often talked about the struggles of daily life, such as working in the fields or being treated unfairly. The music was usually played on simple, homemade instruments such as the guitar, harmonica, and violin.
As the blues developed in the early 1900s, it began to be influenced by other genres of music, such as ragtime and jazz. This new sound was most famously popularized by musicians such as W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith.
The Characteristics of the Blues
The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American community in the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style is characterized by blue notes, call-and-response patterns, and an emphasis on improvisation.
The 12-bar blues format
The 12-bar blues is the most common form of the blues. It gets its name from the fact that it is traditionally divided into 12 bars or measures, each of which is typically played for the same length of time. The 12-bar blues format divides each measure into four beats. For example, in a medium-tempo song, each beat would last about one second.
In its simplest form, the 12-bar blues uses only three chords: the tonic (the “root” chord, which gives the song its name), the subdominant (the “fourth” chord), and the dominant (the “fifth” chord). However, many blues songs also make use of the “blue notes” – notes that are slightly flattened or sharpened from their usual pitch. These notes lend a characteristic “sad” or “bluesy” sound to the music.
The basic structure of a 12-bar blues song is as follows:
(I) Tonic chord – bars 1-4
(IV) Subdominant chord – bars 5-8
(V) Dominant chord – bars 9-12
Tonic chord – bar 13 (optional)
The use of blue notes
The use of blue notes is what gives the blues its characteristic “sound”. The blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus one or more “blue notes”. In jazz, the blue notes are usually played a half-step (or sometimes a whole-step) below the major scale notes. This gives the music a sad, “bluesy” sound.
The term “blue note” can refer to either the flattened third degree of the minor pentatonic scale (b3), or to the flattened seventh degree of any major scale (b7). In blues and jazz, these two blue notes are often used interchangeably.
The use of blue notes is not unique to the blues. Blue notes are also found in other genres of music from around the world, such as West African music and Indian classical music.
The call and response structure
The call and response structure is one of the defining characteristics of the blues. This structure is used in both the lyrics and the music, and it was most likely borrowed from African musical traditions. In a call and response song, one person (or instrument) sings or plays a phrase, and then another person or instrument responds with another phrase. This back-and-forth continues throughout the song, creating a conversation of sorts between the two performers.
The call and response structure is often used in blues songs to create a dialogue between the singer and the audience, or between the singer and the band. The audience will sing or clap along with the singer on the “response” parts of the song, creating a feeling of togetherness and community. This interactivity between performer and audience is one of the things that makes live blues shows so exciting.
The Evolution of the Blues
Blues music has its roots in the African American experience of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The genre developed from the work songs, spirituals, and field hollers of the rural South. These songs were often improvised and spoke to the hardships of life on the plantation. The blues became a form of self-expression for the African American community and a way to tell their stories.
The development of different blues styles
The blues grew out of the spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants of the African American slaves during the late 19th century. These early blues were a mixture of West African music and European hymns. The first recorded use of the word “blue” in reference to music was in 1901, when composer Hugo Freidherg wrote “My Blue Heaven.”
The blues quickly became popular among poor blacks in the South and migrated to urban areas such as Chicago and New York City during the early 20th century. It was originally performed by solo singers accompanied by a guitar or piano. The typical blues song consisted of three chord progression and a 12-bar melody.
During the 1920s, the growing popularity of jazz caused a split within the blues community. Some blues musicians began incorporating jazz elements into their music, while others remained faithful to the traditional style. This divide would later give rise to two different subgenres of the blues: urban blues and rural blues.
The Great Depression made life even harder for blacks living in poverty, but it also gave birth to a new wave of blues artists who sang about their struggles in an effort to lift people’s spirits. These artists included legends like Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith and Blind Lemon Jefferson. It was during this time that the electric guitar was invented, which would go on to become one of the most essential instruments in modern blues music.
The 1940s saw the rise of rhythm and blues, a genre that combined elements of both jazz and blues. This new style of music paved the way for rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s. The following decade saw British bands like The Rolling Stones and The Animals bring the blues back to its roots with their own interpretations of classic songs.
Today, there are many different styles of Blues being played all over the world. While some modern artists have moved away from its traditional sound, others have kept true to form – ensuring that this uniquely American genre will live on for many years to come.
The influence of the blues on other genres of music
The blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in jazz, big band, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and country music, as well as conventional pop songs and even modern classical pieces. 2016 marked the centennial of the publication of W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues”, generally considered the first blues song to be published and thus the earliest significant work in this genre.
In the early 20th century, the blues became a major element of African American folk music and black popular music, reaching white audiences via spirituals, work songs, gospel songs, minstrelsy, and vaudeville; horizontal-growing Jazz also helped spread the blues internationally during that era. The first generation of New Orleans piano players such as Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941) and Tony Jackson (1876–1921) helped create a distinctive tradition of New Orleans piano blues during those decades; other early artists such as James P. Johnson (1891–1955) from New York City joined Morton in developing this new style of popular music in that city as well. In 1922 Louis Armstrong (1901–1971) made his famous recording Hot Five version of “West End Blues”. Soon other jazz musicians began to record their own renditions of classic blues numbers such as Ma Rainey’s (1886–1939) “See See Rider” or Bessie Smith’s “Downhearted Blues”. They also wrote new compositions influenced by classic blues harmonic progressions such as Sidney Bechet’s (1897–1959) “Summertime”.
